The Reason: Kaitlyn Figg
by readwritemm
Summary: How did the Dark Lord turn so Dark? Sure, he wasn't the kindest person as a child, but how did he go from Tom Riddle to Lord Voldemort? Her name is Kaityln Figg. Post DH about Voldemort and Kaitlyn, the girl he fell in-and out of?-love with. Please read and review! Thanks! (By the way, I put angst as one of the genres, but it's not TOO angsty!)
1. Chapter 1

Summary: Why did the Dark Lord turn so Dark? Sure, he wasn't the kindest person as a child, but how did he go from Tom Riddle to Lord Voldemort?

Her name is Kaityln Figg.

A/N: Oh, Merlin (I say this phrase because I am secretly a witch), thanks for reading this story. I really, really, really hope you like it. And review. :)

Disclaimer: I don't own that bag of chips that is spilling out onto my seat in my car…er, oh yes I do. What I meant to say is that I DON'T OWN HARRY POTTER!

Chapter One: A Stolen—Then Returned—Diary

"Come here," called Lila, waving me over to her corner of the Slytherin common room discreetly. I hurried over to her, glad to have an excuse to leave Abraxas Malfoy—did that guy understand that not everyone cared about his advanced knowledge of the Dark Arts?

I went to sit beside Lila, my best friend, on one of the green chairs but she pushed me to the side before I could touch the chair. "Stop, Kait!" She cried as I straightened and smoothed my robes. It was only then that I noticed the tiny black notebook partially concealed under a silver pillow on the chair.

"What is this?" I demanded, sure I had seen it before. "Isn't this…" I trailed off, realizing just whose diary this was.

"Yes!" Lila grinned at me, and after shooting a look over her shoulder to make sure none of our housemates were paying any mind to us, pulled it up to examine the cover with me. In the corner was a name written in silver letters: Tom Riddle.

"Oh, Merlin, please Lila. Tell me you did not steal this from Tom's dorm!"

"It was a brilliant plan, Kait. See, I got sick during History of Magic and Professor Binns wasn't paying any attention to us whatsoever, so I just went back to the dorm to rest. Except, when I got back, I was feeling better. No one was here—no one at all, I promise!—and so I just hurried up to the sixth year boy's dorm. The diary was right on his nightstand, in plain sight. And you know that Tom has the Slug Club meeting later, so he'll only be back after supper. We'll have put the diary back long before then. Admit it: I'm a genius!"

"No, you aren't!" I want to strangle the idiot girl, even if she is my closest friend. "There is no Slug Club meeting. Why else would I be back here so early?"

It takes Lila a moment to fully comprehend what I just said, but when she finally does, she gasps in horror.

"But… I was just going to take a peek. And now…but we've got to get it back! Oh, please help me, Kait!"

I wish I could just tell her to do it herself, that I don't want to get in trouble just because she didn't think ahead. Most of the other Slytherins would do just that.

Of course, I almost wasn't put in Slytherin, so I'm a tad different.

"_Ah, who do we have here? Kaitlyn Figg…? From a long line of great purebloods, all placed in the House of Salazar Slytherin," whispered the Sorting Hat in my mind.  
"Yes, that's true," I answered proudly. "I'm from the Great and Noble House of Figg. And I'll be the next Slytherin." I was so sure._

"_Ah, but will you? There are many students who, like you, could do great in many of the Hogwarts Houses, but you most of all. I can see…two different paths for you."_

_I felt myself freeze under the thin old hat, and then I was crying out, "No, no! I couldn't be in anything but Slytherin."_

"_But you could, Kaitlyn, I see that. Your reason for wanting to join Slytherin is that your family has all come from there. But, while you would amount to something…powerful, in Slytherin, imagine Gryffindor! Loyalty, bravery, kindness. These are the traits that define you even now."_

"_I can't be in Gryffindor. I'll be disgraced if I'm in that horrid House. Please. I will try so hard in Slytherin."_

"_But try to be what?" Asked the Sorting Hat. "Powerful and cunning? Or smart and good?"_

"_Please." It was a quiet plead, but of course the hat heard it._

"_Well, I can see that you wish for it to be this way. For now-though you may not always feel that way. Anyways, I will put you on your path in…SLYTHERIN!"_

I led Lila up to the dorm staircases and was just passing the first years dorms when a tall, dark-haired man came rushing down the stairs.

"Oh, Merlin!" He cried as he crashed into me. It was none other than Tom. I could feel Lila stiffen beside me. "Kaitlyn, I'm sorry. But I have to go…must've left it in the library…researching…er, hey, what are you doing going up the boys staircase, Kaitlyn?"

"And me!" Lila popped around me and flipped her hair back, pouting up at Tom. "I'm being naughty too, Mr. Riddle." She winked and I pinched her arm. "Eek!"

"Ah, getting up to mischief, are you, Kaitlyn?" Tom asked. As usual, he completely ignored Lila.

Which, judging from how she was acting now, was probably for the best. I was pretty sure that if he showed any more attention to the hopelessly in love girl, she might just combust.

I shrugged, feeling slightly awkward. "Well, we'll just be…uh…"

"Wait!" Tom grabbed my arm. "I wanted to ask you something…will you go for a walk with me? Tonight, after supper?" He shot me a flashy white grin.

"What kind of a walk?" I asked slowly.

"Well, I was hoping for a walk that was more of a date than a…er, walk.

I was reluctant: Tom was extremely popular at school…which would seem like a good thing, but someone as well-liked as the guy practically had a fan girl of girls who wanted to date him, one of which was Lila.

Ever since third year, Tom had been asking me out. And I always said no because it was a highly known fact that any girl who became Tom's girlfriend was instantly targeted by his wannabe girlfriends. I was already slightly disliked—because he asked me out so often—and I didn't want to create even more animosity, especially with Lila.

But Tom was really nice… "Alright," I found myself saying, much to the surprise of both me and Tom. Tom smiled at me and I found myself grinning too. He then started down the stairs. "See ya!" He called over his shoulder.

When he was out of hearing range, Lila spun to face me. She was wearing a very bitter expression. "Why would you do that to me?" She cried. "You know how I feel about him…and then you go ahead and throw yourself at him! And he falls for it," she adds in an angry afterthought.

"Lila, it's not that…" I clench my hands into fists so that I don't explode at her. _Throwing myself at him? _"I didn't want to hurt his feelings."

"Oh ya," Lila said sarcastically. "You couldn't possibly let Tom Riddle feel bad, huh? Who cares about how your best friend—your _only_ friend here at school—feels, right? I don't want to hear it. And you can take this back up there." She thrust the diary at me and then rushed downstairs.

Unfortunately, this was a common occurrence with Lila. While she could be fun and nice sometimes, the girl had some serious jealousy problems.

Slowly I tromped up the stairs to the wooden door marked "Fifth Years" and pushed it open cautiously. I poked my head in first, and when I determined that no one was inside, hurried to the bed that was obviously Tom's.

While the other boys' spaces were piled high with Quidditch supplies and books and chocolate frog wrappers, with unmade beds and robes strewn about, Tom's was immaculate. Every book was stacked neatly in a small bookcase and his trunk was sealed tightly, with no robes hanging out of the edges.

I gently set the diary on the bedside stand and, for good measure, placed a loose paper—the only loose paper in Tom's area—on top of it. I doubted that Tom would be fooled, but in case it was his diary he'd been looking for earlier, he might just think he'd hadn't looked hard enough.

Then, I scurried back to the common room.

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I really hope you liked the first chapter. Please, please, please (x1,000,000,000) review. Whenever I get reviews, I jump up and do a happy dance. You wanna be the cause of my happy dance, don't you? (On second thought, maybe you don't…it's slightly scary.)

Just review. Good reviews, bad reviews, one-word reviews, five page reviews…they're all awesome. Thanks!


	2. Chapter 2

Here's chapter 2. Just in case you were wondering, Kaitlyn's name is pronounced Kate-Linn.

Also, I made her be a Figg. Mrs. Figg—the Dursley's Spuib neighbor—is from the same family. I know that Mrs. Figg is a Squib, but in this story I am going to say that Mrs. Figg wasn't born yet—therefore disgracing her family with her lack of magic-and the Figg family was a respected pureblood family.

Disclaimer: "Who wants to give the disclaimer today, Harry Potter characters?"

"Ooh, me, me!" Cried Tom Riddle.

"No, I am your Dark Lord. I will," hissed Voldemort.

"Er…you guys are the same person. Why don't you both do it?"

"OK. Readwritemm doesn't own anything to do with Harry Potter," said Tom.

"Not the books?" Voldie asked in Parseltongue.

"Not the books or the movies!" Answered Tom.

Chapter Two: Moaning Dates

After supper, I met up with Tom at the entrance to the dungeons.

Suddenly feeling terribly shy, I glanced over at him quickly. He looked even more amazing than usual. His black hair was swept back out of his eyes and he was wearing one of his nicer set of robes.

"Hi, Tom," I said, looking into his eyes—a gorgeous dark color that, no matter how much I concentrated on them, would not take just a single nameable color. "You look great."

"Hello Kaitlyn. _I_ look great? Have you seen yourself? You're…stunning."

I blushed and wanted to slap my forehead. _Blushing_? I didn't blush; I was a Slytherin, for Merlin's sake!

"Thanks, Tom."

He took my arm and led me towards the Front Hall, pushing the wide oak doors. We headed out into the warm summer air.

Tom and I headed towards the lake, where eventually we sat down. I gazed out across the flat water.

It was extremely silent, but a good kind of quiet. Tom took my hand and I stiffened.

"Shh, it's alright. We don't have to do anything," he assured me, noticing my tension. Except…that wasn't my problem.

My problem was that I was liking the feeling of his thumb stroking my palm much more than I should be.

I turned towards Tom and almost bumped into his nose. He was watching my face. He leaned in a bit…

"AHH!" A girl cried, and a little ways around the lake, I saw a splash. A few moments later, a brown-haired girl spluttered to the surface. She dragged herself up the bank and then suddenly stopped. "Oh, no!" She crawled back down the bank and then felt around the grass for something. She pulled up a pair of wide-rimmed glasses and shoved them onto her face.

"It's Moaning Myrtle," Tom said in complete annoyance.

I sighed. "Myrtle!" I called and the fourth year spun towards me, almost slipping again. "Are you alright?"

Moaning Myrtle placed her hands on her hips and started to sob. "Thought that was funny, did you? Just thought—sniffle—that it'd be _hilarious_ to mess with crybaby Myrtle. Yes, that's right! I know—sniffle—what everyone calls me. Moaning Myrtle! So funny. What a laugh!"

I rolled my eyes. "Ya, Myrtle, we're just busting up laughing over here," I deadpanned, full of sarcasm.

"I knew it!" She accused and ran up to the castle, no doubt to cry in the girls bathroom like usual.

"That was quite funny," Tom admitted after a minute of watching Myrtle stumble her way to the front doors. "Did you catch her fall in?"

"No, unfortunately. But she made that loud shout. And then the glasses problem. How long was she looking for them down there?"

"At least a couple minutes!"

I shook my head. "Longer, I think."

"Maybe…" Tom said. We stood up to go inside.

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For the next few months, I went on dates with Tom. Lila hadn't forgiven me yet and I couldn't truthfully say that I missed her constant ramblings and "genius ideas".

Even if Lila—and most of the other Hogwarts girls-were mad, I was still really happy. Tom was so nice, and charming, and smart, and a prefect. You couldn't _not_ be happy around Tom Riddle.

We shared everything with each other.

Everything…

"_Kaitlyn," Tom said after we had snogged for awhile. "I have to tell you something." He stroked my cheek softly._

"_Yes?" I said distractedly, concentrating on his lips, which I wished were on mine at this time. _

"_Listen to me! This is important. I'm a descendant of Salazar Slytherin."_

_This broke me out of my daze. "Wait, what?" I cried. "Slytherin?"_

"_Yes," he sighed impatiently. "I'm a Parseltongue. I can speak to snakes."_

"_I know what a Parseltongue is!" I snapped, looking at him with new appreciation—and hesitation. _

So he was related to Salazar Slytherin? I didn't let this worry me; I was in the House of Slytherin, for Merlin's sake!

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Hope you liked that chapter. Please review!


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